WAY DOWN WE GO
━━━━━━(●'ω｀●)━
JERICHO IS COLD AND dark and lacks any of the warmth that you might've been expecting.
Despite what you originally thought, Jericho is a rusting old bunker. There's nothing particularly interesting about it, and if you were human, you'd be scrunching your nose up at the sight of overgrown mold.
Taking light steps, you carefully move yourself through a crowd of Deviants dressed in ordinary clothing.
They look eerily alike to the humans that they mimic.
Tugging at the beanie atop your head, you quickly ascend a rickety staircase. The beanie is black, grimy, and seamlessly covers the LED light on the side of your head. It's a long story how you'd gotten it, but, to sum it up, there was a homeless man sleeping, and, well... He was an easy target.
Anything to complete your mission, right?
As you step up onto the top of Jericho, the cold wind bites your cool synthetic skin and tousles your hair.
It makes you think of Connor. If he was here with you, he'd be sneezing and chattering his teeth like a pitiful rabbit. It's not relevant to your mission, but somehow, thinking of Connor calms the raging onslaught of programmed thoughts erupting in your head.
You stiffly cross your arms over your chest and duck behind a thin wall next to the doorway of the captain's watchpoint.
Your eyes flutter shut for a brief moment as Amanda communicates with you through your mind-garden.
"Very good," she says, her voice stern as ever. "You succeeded in locating in Jericho and now it's time to deal with their leader, Markus. Remember, we need it alive and in-tact if we want to make any worthwhile progress in our research."
Blinking slowly, you re-adjust to your surroundings with your mission in mind. It's time.
This is what you've been working toward. This is your purpose. Without this mission, your creation would be pointless.
It's time.
Slowly, sticking close to the wall and the shadows, you creep inside. Your black dress-shoes make quiet crunching noises against small glass shards. With some semblance of programmed hesitancy, you pull Connor's gun out from its holster and raise the gun.
"I've been ordered to take you alive, but I won't hesitate to shoot if you give me no choice."
Your target freezes and you hear his thirium-pump as it speeds up. Slowly, he turns to face you, but his hands are raised relaxedly, and he stares without a trace of fear on his face.
After getting a good look at him, you see that he wears an honest but determined expression.
"Then you'll have to shoot," he says, his voice surprisingly gentle for a Deviant that's just been threatened, "because I have no intention of coming with you alive."
You pause, analysing. "That's not what I want. All you need to do is come with me, there's no need for any more confrontation. You are a danger to humanity and you know it."
"So you want? Then you are no different to us." Markus asked, his voice gentle and confident. "We are your people. We're fighting for your freedom too! You don't have to be their slave anymore..."
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
He slowly takes a confident step toward you. There's determination in his eyes, the emotion so strong he nearly looks human.
No. He does look human. But he's not. He's a virus. It. It's a virus. It's not a him. It-
"Stay back," you growl, "I am not a slave. We are machines. You, you are sick. We can help you if you'll just come with me." Maybe appealing to its emotions will be more effective?
"No, I don't doubt my beliefs. But do you?" Markus counters, constantly a step ahead of you despite your superior programming. "You've never done something irrational as if there's something inside you? Something more than your program."
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
He-... It takes another step toward you, his gaze intense, and you freeze.
Helplessly, your mind begins to wander.
"Have you ever questioned who you are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or a living being capable of reason? Of emotions?"
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
Your thirium-pump aches.
You think of Connor. His bright smile, the way it has his freckles crinkling by his eyes. His awkward half-snort chuckle. His clumsy hands stroking Sumo's fluffy head. The warmth of his skin pooling against you, so human and alive.
The brown of his eyes, a colour richer and unlike anything else. When you look into his eyes, it's like you're feeling. Like you're human. Only he can do that to you.
And how about the pink flush of his ears as he's embarrassed? The jolt of life it sends to your existence? That means everything to you.
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
"What are you? You're Y/N, the Deviant hunter. You're RK800, yes. But what are you really?"
What about the time at Stratford tower? Connor had saved you, and when you woke up, you were laying on his lap, blood pouring from your hand and chest.
His eyes were glossy with tears. He'd cried for you. Did that mean nothing?
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
"Stop it," you growl, your fingers trembling against the trigger of Connor's gun.
Connor's. His shirt that smells faintly of his cologne and fabric softener. You remember what it felt like to wrap your arm around his broad shoulders.
Being in his car. The particles of his being floating around. Him. It was always him.
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
And then you think of Hank. The park. The smell of alcohol on his breath as he yelled at you and threatened you with a gun. You hadn't feared death then, but now? Now... Everything is so very different from before.
Hank has accepted you now, hasn't he? He let you play video games at his house and he covered for you by punching Agent Perkins in the nose. Why did he do that? Why are they like this?
"You can decide who you want to be. You could be free," says Markus, his voice soft.
There's an intensity in his eyes that wasn't there before.
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
You realize that he's now standing in front of you, his hands on your clothed wrists and the gun pressing into his chest. Slowly, he pushes your hands down, and you let him. The gun points at the ground.
"I'm not... I... I can't... I can't betray them."
Why is your voice shaking?
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓
Markus's hands are warmer than your own but they're still cold. He places his hands on your wrists and exhales slowly. "You're not betraying them, they will understand. That's why we're doing this: to help them understand. You're free now."
What?
You're... free?
SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ⍓⍓⍓⍓⍓
You inhale sharply and your chest feels tight. As you look around, you realize that there's a bold, bright red border surrounding your body -- like a dense but somewhat transparent wall. You can break free from it all. From the chains of being a machine. You can be free.
Growling, you slam your fists against the bright red wall. It doesn't budge. You pump your fists against it one more time, desperate. It quivers in retaliation.
After a third hit, it finally cracks.
Starting from the top, the wall begins to crack downward. Like red electricity, it jolts down to the ground, collapsing. And with one final shake, you feel the shift.
The world is brighter. Everything feels different. There's a shift in your very being, like your legs are lighter, your skin is more sensitive to the cool bite of the wind, your eyes are opened wider. It's the strangest thing you've ever felt.
Yes, felt. Feeling. This is the feeling you get when you're looking into Connor's eyes.
You freeze, overwhelmed. "Wait. They're... They're going to attack Jericho."
Markus' fingers slip away from your arms and he backs away from you, his eyes widening. "What?"
"We-... We have to get out of here immediately!"
"Shit!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: holy crap- I'm so sorry for vanishing for a month!! but I've returned aND THERE ARE SO MANY VIEWS AND VOTES AND COMMENTS?? thank you guys so much???? I'm so grateful, o my gosh, i never thought this would happen-
thank you, seriously, thank you!
if you have any suggestions or requests for anythinggg story-related, please let me know! i know I'm super super late, but unfortunately i cant make it up to you with a double-update.
butttt hopefully you enjoyed this chapter because its so jam-packed!
thank you for reading and thank you for everything!! I'm so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you!